Ready

About the film

Ready is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film directed by Anees Bazmee. Produced by T-Series Films, Rawail Grandsons Entertainment and Software Pvt. Ltd. and Sohail Khan Productions, it is an official remake of the 2008 Telugu film of the same name directed by Srinu Vaitla. Based on a script adapted by Rajiv Kaul, Rajan Aggarwal, Ikram Akhtar, Farhad-Sajid and Nisar Akhtar, the film stars Salman Khan and Asin in their second film together after London Dreams. Ready was distributed by Wave Cinemas and One Up Entertainment. Khan also narrated the film, while the story was written by Gopimohan and Kona Venkat, who also penned the 2008 original.

Principal photography commenced in June 2010. The film was shot in Sri Lanka, Bangkok and Mumbai. The first look poster was launched on 5 April 2011. Theatrically released worldwide on 3 June 2011, Ready broke all the records for a non-holiday film It grossed ₹120 crore net in India and ₹180 crore worldwide against its ₹30 crore budget, becoming a massive commercial success. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for its music, humor and Khan's performance, but criticism for its length and script.

Plot

Prompt-witted, Prem helps his friend Khushi elope with her lover Raju. This angers her father Abhinav and the Kapoors. Prem pacifies his family, who fix his marriage with a woman, Pooja. Sanjana, who just ran away from her wedding, hears Prem telling his uncle about ditching Pooja. As the Kapoors haven't met her yet, Sanjana poses as her and stays with and soon wins over the Kapoors. Her maternal uncles Amar and Suraj search for a groom to get her married off. While Prem and Sanjana are going to the airport, their car stalls in a forest, forcing them to sleep in the forest, where Prem discovers Sanjana's real identity after he sees her driver's licence.

Suraj takes Sanjana away. Despite knowing the truth, the Kapoors still want her as Prem's wife. Promising Sanjana that he will find a way to marry her, Prem poses as the nephew of Balli, a chartered accountant who serves Amar and Suraj. Soon the Kapoors trick the Chaudharys to let Sanjana marry Prem. Aryan recovers and reveals the truth about Prem, who then explains how Sanjana's late mother Shivani wanted their union and get her married. Amar and Suraj realise their mistake and are forgiven. In the end, Prem and Sanjana get married and click away their wedding pictures.

Production

The film was originally to be shot in Mauritius. However, on the request of Salman Khan, the location was changed to Sri Lanka. Khan described his decision to choose Sri Lanka as its proximity to India and its suitable landscape for Indian productions.

Shooting started on 20 June 2010 in Colombo. The first schedule of shooting lasted for over 27 days at locations in Colombo and the neighbouring Bentota, during which approximately 40% of the filming was completed.

The second schedule of shooting was slated to start in October 2010 but was delayed due to eye problems faced by Salman Khan. The lead actor requested Anees Bazmee to delay the shoot until his condition improved. Shooting started again in Mumbai from 3 November 2010. Portions of Ready were shot at Film City in Mumbai and Cherish Studios at Madh Island in the north of Mumbai.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for Ready is composed by Pritam with Amitabh Bhattacharya, Neelesh Misra and Kumaar serving as lyricists. It was launched on 29 April 2011 at Filmcity, Goregaon, under the banner of T-Series. The album contains four original tracks and four remixes. The item song "Ringa Ringa" from the Telugu film Arya 2 was tweaked and recreated for the film by its original composer, Devi Sri Prasad, who was billed as a guest composer. The song underwent changes to suit the nativity of North Indian audiences, with the revised title set to "Dhinka Chika"; guest songwriter Ashish Pandit wrote the revamped lyrics.

Release

Ready’s release date was first set as 27 May but was later pushed back to 3 June. Advance bookings were opened on 29 May (five days before release) in several multiplexes. It became the first Indian film to release on at least 1000 UFO digital prints and almost 1900 prints in all. The advance at single screens matched that of Dabangg and even bettered it at places. The world premiere took place at Grand Cineplex, Dubai on 1 June 2011.

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India gave it three stars out of five saying, "The film is an unabashed ode to Salman Khan, the entertainer rather than the actor. And yes, it works at that level." Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama awarded the movie four out of five saying, "On the whole, Ready is strictly for the masses and for those who relish typically formulaic masala entertainers. The film prides itself with super music ['Character Dheela' and 'Dhinka Chika'], gags and gimmicks aplenty and of course, Salman Khan, the beloved of the masses and the mainstay of this film." Filmfare also awarded four stars out of five, while commenting, "When it comes to a Salman Khan or a Rajnikant film, their performance is not important. It's the audience performance that counts."

Anupama Chopra of NDTV Movies awarded two stars while commenting, "Thankfully, Ready isn't in the same soul-sucking category as director Anees Bazmee's last two movies: Thank You and No Problem. But it still falls very much into his special brand of brain-dead, anything-for-a-laugh comedy." Raja Sen of Rediff.com awarded the film one and a half stars saying, "Ready doesn't even try to make sense and therefore falls flat.....only it's more extortionate than value for money." Sonia Chopra of Sify awarded two and a half stars while commenting, "The film is unabashedly Salman-centric. He's doing it all: the wise-cracks, gregarious dancing, beating the bad guys, and romancing the girl. All this with his characteristic drawl and swagger." Kunal Guha of Yahoo! Movies gave the movie one star and stated, "...the movie refuses to end, as unnecessary confusions and complications pile up and you wonder if there's enough reel left to clear it all up." Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN awarded the movie one and a half stars out of five, commenting "'Ready' is strictly for die-hard Salman Khan fans (are there any other kind?) who're willing to forgive the fact that this tasteless, senseless film has no plot to speak of, yet lazily unfolds over two hours and thirty minutes... Salman Khan deserves better than this." Shubhra Gupta from The Indian Express gave the film one star and said "What really kills…

Key details